Ripped off in Altinkum website

[Mushtaq]

I don't think that type of sites achieve the goal, instead it becomes an attraction for all the people who have an axe to grind and without much control it gets out of hand very quickly.

I think forum like TLF does a much better job of warning people of problem areas and dodgy businesses, although a lot of time we can't expose people fully and name them, I think a more balanced approach is taken and people get the message without creating legal or physical problems.

 

[bobthenob]

l do find it so sad when others are look upon as the same characters that help to destroy the good image of Altinkum.
But unfortunately this is what happens in human nature as a protection for themselves and others to avoid an area that is riddled with criminal minds.

The authorities should've clamped down on this years ago,because they surely must have known the public will not tolerate such evil behaviour on a grand scale without any protection.

They should have looked at the signs of what corruption is doing and acted upon it straight away to stop the damage these criminals are creating in the area,because what it does is it benefits the unscrupulous minds from their victims which flourishes to a point where it will be hard to deal with.To recognize that corruption is very damaging to the good reputation towards the decent emlaks and businesses in Altinkum is a start.But they must show action not words all the time.

l go back to the boy and the wolf story,where eventually no matter what they say to put things right.No one will believe them.That means corruption is the biggest enemy in Altinkum and will destroy the local economy if they don't take heed on how serious corruption is,then it is just a matter of time for the local economy to collaspse.And l blame the criminal minds allowed to swindle the investors without any proper regulative boards to stop them in their tracks and punish them harshly through the victim should be given the green light to sue the crook heavily.

lf they take care of the investors and not the enemy,then the investors will take care of the local economy.

 

[stevecarol]

Unless I witness some of these things myself, the knockers can say what they like, it still wont put me off the place,the way some people go on about things, make you wonder why they are still living there, there are far worse places to be in this world.

 

[Martyn]

It's the way of the world. If you turn on the news on tv you will hear about murderers, muggers, rapists the same with newspapers. If they opened a site on the good things of Altinkum it wouldn't get the visitors. Frustrating I know.

 

[KKOB]

There's a similar feeling on the Calis Beach forum at the moment with 3 or 4 threads currently running about muggings, flashers, sexual assaults, break-ins, the lack of interest by the Polis / Jandarma etc etc

Several members have taken the time to email the new Alo - 179 service and have today received a positive response including the name and number of an English speaking Polis officer who has been allocated to meet with residents and investigate the alleged crimes.

Anyone doing a search for holiday or house purchase info in the area is bound to be directed to the site at some point. They're going to be put-off by the huge amount of attention currently being given to the downside of the area.

 

[Guz1]

It would be helpful if each Belediye had a point of contact for tourists in trouble. Someone (Hijo?) posted on another thread that Kusadasi has a service similar to Fethiye's Alo-179. I couldn't find any reference to such a service on the Belediye's website.

All the tourist resorts have more foreign than local residents in summertime. It would make sense if each Belediye's website had details in English of what to do and where to go in an emergency.

 

[carolk]

The site was set up after quite a big scandal in Altinkum. The people lost their holiday homes which as we all know were bought and paid for. These families went through the proper channels first and I believe are still doing so. I cant even begin to imagine how they feel!.

I know going through my own bit of legal business that Altinkum is considered a village, I also know they don't replace judges who are ill or out and about and everything comes to a stand still. You may consider this gossip but, I have been told by 3 different solicitors that they constantly have to remind the judges of the 'actual' law as they seem to do as they like!! Imagine then in this climate if you live here - how you would feel if your builder gave your tapu to a loan shark he had borrowed money from, then that loan shark sold on your tapu to a Turkish person who the court then favoured despite all your proof. They have suffered threats and this is nothing new, Lewismark told us a while ago of threats to him and his wife and children.

I watched the local elections here, political parties giving away freebies plus food and drink, all out in the open.

Its a corrupt little place I'm afraid. Altinkum needs to get its act together and police itself, which needs to be seen to being done.

Despite all the things on the web site, I live here and know -as most do - who are the good people, they have good reputations. I believe the good will remain and flourish as the market picks up.

 

[Gin&Tonic]

I have been told that one of the reasons why Altinkum has gained this reputation is its location, this is a place you have to come into and go out of, not go through, so consequently the council, businesses, police etc tend to get left to run things their own way which unfortunately is open to corruption.

 

[KKOB]

The Alo - 179 service covers the whole of Mugla Province.

 

[carolk]

CrashTester, I think that TLF does a very good job by letting people have their say - good or bad, its very balanced in my view. I also think the good Emlaks shine through such as Lynne, Dalaman Deli (Ruth) and Crescent Homes spring to mind, I would trust them. You know my problems and they have not been with the buying process.

I think with Altinkum being a resort, a great place to have a holiday home, too many unqualified people decided they would get into the business of selling property. The loop holes are many for the unscrupulous and so they have exploited them and unfortunately given this area a bad name. Add to that people who justify all that goes on in the name of a fast buck!!


It has become a way of life that is slowly coming to an end. I see a huge difference in the couple of years I've lived here and it is thanks to forums like these.

There is always room for a good company willing to build a good reputation such as the ones I mentoned above.

 

[Summertime]

I am new to Turkey and to the Altinkum area, and I have to say I am shocked over what I have been through, and the bad experience, there is always some new big problem when I got there. Agents who lies, promising, and never do what they are payed for, I could go on and on, member of this Forum, who has been to my apartment can confirm this. In fact I am scared when I am on my own there.

 

[bobthenob]

l feel for you Summertime of what you have been through since you bought here.lt has been nothing but finding ways of departing from you of your hard earned money.And what angers me most is the fact that their is nothing there to protect the customer from these crooks.l feel it as sided more with the corrupt side then with the honest side.

When you told me this company you have payed for to do the cleaning and inspecting your apartment sounds so familiar and so common by ignoring the work they should've done and would rather make excuses that are so insulting to one's intelligence.

You have been over charged for the furniture and the apartment.That apartment should've been sold to you at 25,000pds and also the after service.EEr,,what after service.
lf the victims advertise there bad experiences to the authorities to the European boards and the media.Then l do think eventually the authorities will wake up to the fact how so important it is to achieve a good reputation then to exploit the foriegner's of their money.
Non-corrupt regulative boards must be set up.With foriegner's as well as Turkish on the boards.
Toughen up on the law so the corrupt minds will be punished and not the victims.
Legal aid and a non-corrupt lawyer should be introduced to the victim for the court procedures to start.Once the criminal is found guilty,then he must have his asetts sieved and sold off to pay for the victim in compensation and the court fees and the lawyer.
All is happy except for the low life that has betrayed Altinkum with a bad reputation.
lt is up to the authorities now to turn the tide so the bad can turn into good and the local ecnomy will strengthen as time goes on through trust

 

[panther]

Not only emlaks and builders. The dodgy solicitors who take fees and don't deliver results and know they won't.

I have just used one the last two years. I am appalled he hasn't done anything.

 

[carolk]

Thanks Carol. Let me ask you a question, and I appreciate any answer you give is purely your opinion and I will take it as such.

Do you think that if you bought a property now you would have an improved chance of having a better buying/ownership experience than you have actually had so far? In short, do you think lots of problems being highlighted now are as a result of past bad practices.

I tried to get a feel of peoples opinion of this in a poll a few months back but I think the results was pretty evenly distributed throughout the years without any particular period proving to be the worst.

Yes CrashTester I do. I think it is past practices being highlighted with regard to selling, so many are at the court stage now. Because of forums like these and people being allowed to tell their stories people are much better informed. I was very lucky then, now I would know exactly what to ask to see and, where to go and check it, nothing would be left to chance.

As we share our experiences we help each other not to be caught by yet another scam we hadn't thought of/didn't know about i.e. had I known at the time besides my contract with the builder which the intermediary kept and then gave back to him - it wouldn't have happened, I would have kept it, had it notarised and photocopied his kimlik. I didn't have the benefit of this forum then lol, I had just joined and had already bought this property!

In my opinion you are in an excellent position to buy and one of the best pieces of advice I saw on here was - buy in winter!!!

 

[peter the postie]

I have just ripped off Alo 24. Had a belly busting meal with drinks and they must have undercharged us as the bill was only a tenner for two of us!
I told denise to drink up quickly and we scarpered down Ataturk blvd : )

 

[Martyn]

Lmao!!!

 

[Summertime]

May I ask how did you come to buy in Turkey/Altinkum in the first place? It sounds like you wasnt prepared for what you got at all.

Somebody I know from my country have aparment in Didim, and I was prepared, not a lot, but some, read on internet, and thought I was allright, I was not. But, after all, my stupid mind think most of the people are honest, and for that I have paid a lot, as somebody just said, they have heard 10 years ago that the mafia was running this area.

 

[carolk]

I am new to Turkey and to the Altinkum area, and I have to say I am shocked over what I have been through, and the bad experience, there is always some new big problem when I got there. Agents who lies, promising, and never do what they are payed for, I could go on and on, member of this Forum, who has been to my apartment can confirm this. In fact I am scared when I am on my own there.

I am so sorry to hear you feel scared when you are there on your own! How awful!!

 

[DAVIDO]

must say, its a shame so many members are sad at unhappy .obviously we can only hope that things will improve, and who knows maybe in a year or two the posts will be more positive and the problems and disillusion will be a thing of the past.its like the credit crunch, everbody at the moment are waiting to here its coming to a end ,as i hope will the problems in turkey.dont forget it was only 2 years or so that their was the bombings that was a concern ,but god willing these have calmed.

davido

 

[martin m]

Hi all
I have just checked and we are nearly 11,000 strong on this forum now, and though a lot have had some kind of con served against them during their time purchasing here, i think its safe to say that its on the wane, Dont get me wrong i dont think that all the con men (and women) have overnight changed into angels, On the contrary, but we are getting smarter and its got a lot to do with TLF and the other forum thingys.
When i first started on here 3 years ago there was about 3,000 of us and things were more of just chit chat, jokes,(arguments),and pleasantries, then things started going wrong for folk because that many folk were buying and been conned the forum began to change into a information exchange, we got many members from all over the world, some of whom are highly qualified in helpfull fields,(legal) and then we had members challenging in courts and sharing their experiences, passing on information to help others, and indeed the name and shame thing, combine that with the launch of the (english) voices newspaper,and at last the tide has turned.
Yes things are not perfect but they are better, arnt they?
the one thing that saddens me on this thread is to read when someone has posted that they dont feel safe when in Altinkum, summer time i am really sorry you feel that way, is it anything specific that can be altered or is it that you just dont trust anymore.
to sum up. TLF and the members have and still are making a difference well done, and keep it up.
now wheres the lager.
martin